Review: Panasonic Z95A (MLA OLED)
Panasonic's models have adopted a different naming convention this year, with the successor to last year's MZ2000 now called Z95A. However, the recipe remains unchanged; the highlights of Z95A are still Dolby Atmos speakers and the second generation MLA OLED panel. As an extra touch, Panasonic has switched to FireTV this year. Panasonic Z95A comes in 55" and 65". We have reviewed the 65" model. The 77" version is called Z93A and does not include MLA technology. Also read: Panasonic 2024 TV line-upPrice and retailers:
UK retailerUK retailerDE retailerFirst impressions
Unpacking and setting up Panasonic's TV is a breeze, as the packaging and the placement of the TV and stand inside are easy to manage. The tabletop stand for Z95A was simple to assemble and while the TV requires two people to lift it safely, the assembly itself is one of the easiest processors of any TV brand. As usual, I end up double-checking the label on the front to verify that it is indeed the newest model I have received, as Panasonic TVs have not undergone any significant design changes for years. One of the only visual cues, noticed last year, is the addition of side-facing Atmos speakers, located at the edges of the electronic box on the back. Visually, Panasonic's flagship TV stands out from most competitors' TVs due to the large integrated soundbar at the bottom. Speakers take up so much space on the TV that one might have considered an alternative approach when designing the back, as only a small percentage remains to showcase the thin profile of the OLED panel. Both LG and Sony have taken a different approach by making the TV thicker and using the entire back area for the electronics. The layout of the ports on the back remains unchanged, and we still found only two HDMI 2.1 ports supporting 4K 120 Hz and VRR, along with two additional HDMI ports with HDMI 2.0 bandwidth. Again, one of the two HDMI 2.1 ports is eARC, so your soundbar will take up one of your HDMI 2.1 ports that could otherwise be used for VRR with a game console. This is an unfortunate limitation that LG and Samsung have moved past, but we still see Panasonic and Sony sticking with it.User experience & features
The user interface on Panasonic TVs has been somewhat underwhelming for several years, with MyHomeScreen feeling like a ghost town – urgently needing the an Apple TV 4K, Google TV device or similar. At this year's CES, we saw what may be the most significant change in Panasonic TVs in 2024: FireTV. Built on Android 11 as its base, FireTV takes over the entire user interface, fully integrating into both the menus and the TV's interface, transforming the full user experience on Z95A. Z95A runs on the MediaTek 5896 SoC (also known as Pentonic 700), delivering performance on par with TCL's 2023 and 2024 models. It is clearly not an Olympic sprinter as it lags behind even older streaming boxes such as Nvidia Shield, placing it on the lower end of the performance spectrum. This is compounded by the fact that FireTV runs on top of Android, adding an "operating system" on top of another. I will delve deeper into how the performance feels later in this section, but for now, here is a comparison of CPU and GPU performance between different chipsets.The initial setup feels particularly long, and for several minutes, you are left staring at a spinning logo that does not really give enough insight into where the TV is in its preparation process. FireTV originates from Amazon, and is thus closely tied to its streaming service – Prime Video – and to get the most out of the TV, you need an Amazon account, similar to having a Google account when using a purely Android-based TV. The Prime Video permeates much of the content you will be presented with on the homescreen, so it is worth considering whether the service offers content relevant to you, but it is not a requirement to subscribe to Prime Video in order to use FireTV in general. We will take a closer look at this. The video below quickly runs through the user interface and some of the apps you will find, with the experiences of using them described afterward. After the setup, you land on the homescreen, which shares many of the same features we have seen on both LG's webOS, Samsung's Tizen or Google's latest Google TV homescreen. A top carousel initially takes up most of the screen, with only a single content row and shortcut to settings visible. If you do not press anything, the banner will completely take over the screen and rotate between various Amazon services and Prime series, so it is already clear that ads is a big part of what FireTV is and will become. It can feel rather intrusive that such a large part of the homescreen is reserved to display content from the maker of the operating system, but this is no different from competing TV operating systems.Google TV – CPU/GPU benchmark
CPU – Geekbench 4 (single-core & multi-core) MediaTek MT5887
Philips OLED805MediaTek MT5889
TCL C845 X1MediaTek Pentonic 700
TCL C855, C805, X955MediaTek Pentonic 700
Panasonic Z95AMediaTek MT5895
Sony XH90, X90J, X90K, X90L, Philips OLED807MediaTek Pentonic 1000
Philips OLED809MediaTek Pentonic 1000
Sony A95L, XR90Nvidia Shield TV Apple A10X
Apple TV 4K 1st GenFlatpanelsHD
GPU – GFXBench (1080p Manhattan 3.1 & Aztec Ruins), 3D Mark (Slingshot Extreme) MediaTek MT5887
Philips OLED805MediaTek MT5889
TCL C845 X1MediaTek Pentonic 700
TCL C855, C805, X955MediaTek Pentonic 700
Panasonic Z95AMediaTek MT5895
Sony XH90, X90J, X90K, X90L, Philips OLED807MediaTek Pentonic 1000
Philips OLED809MediaTek Pentonic 1000
Sony A95L, XR90Nvidia Shield TV Apple A10X
Apple TV 4K 1st GenBluetooth headsets and gaming accessories can be paired with the TV, but considering the TV's CPU/GPU, you should not expect game console-quality performance. At this time, FireTV does realize its potential as a one-stop shop for game streaming, movie streaming and home hub, so we think you should see still see it mainly as a streaming platform. Amazon's Luna game streaming service is not yet available in our region. It is relatively easy to sideload apps onto the TV if any apps are missing, just as you may have done with Android devices, but side-loaded Android apps are typically not optimized for the TV screen and there are security concerns too. If we take a closer look at the interface, the first thing that stands out is the relatively low resolution. Unlike the interfaces on Google TV, Tizen, webOS or Apple TV, the interface and apps clearly do not run in 4K. The same issue appears in several app interfaces as well. Given that we are now accustomed to 4K in apps like Netflix, it feels a bit outdated to be limited to full HD interface. Of course movie content plays in 4K when available, so the criticism is strictly aimed at the interface itself. During the test, I also used an Apple TV 4K and when comparing certain apps, it became clear that content is not always rendered the same way. In the example below, you can see the same scene from Mad Max: Furiosa where the left image is from the Max app on FireTV and the right image from the Max app on Apple TV. As shown, there is a noticeable dark, noisy blotch in the scene on the Apple TV version, which is not present in the FireTV version. This was not a consistent issue with FireTV, and the problem only became apparent because I am familiar with the scene. It was not something I encountered in other instances or with other streaming apps on FireTV, but it is concerning that this difference exists in content that should look identical. In the same vein, while playing Dolby Vision content, there was a lag in the shift of overall brightness during scene changes. Switching to Apple TV 4K and playing the same content did not present this problem. Initially, my thesis was that there were differences in picture profile settings across apps and HDMI inputs, but after a meticulous review of each setting, it was concluded that there were no differences. When it comes to performance, FireTV does not feel particularly fast. The startup is sluggish and you will need to hold off on pressing buttons too eagerly, as the system takes its time to fully load. The same applies when opening menus for the first time or navigating through them; there is always a risk of lag. Launching apps was not as smooth as expected either. On multiple occasions, apps failed to start and only by switching to other apps and then returning could I get them to open. This laggy experience also led to several unexpected restarts of the TV, requiring me to navigate back to the content I was watching. This happened both during playback and while navigating through the interface. We typically test TVs with a selection of video files delivered via USB, and in recent years, all our clips have played without issue across all brands. However, with FireTV, it was more common than not for a clip to fail. Only a few media files were able to play successfully. It was hard to pinpoint the exact cause, as many files were encoded the same way and in the same format, yet one might fail while another worked. For now, I would not rely on the internal media player. I also encountered issues when connecting to external audio equipment such as a Sonos Arc soundbar. Connecting to the audio system took a while, and there were several instances where the system could not be found at all. The only solution was restarting the TV. Overall, the system's responsiveness felt reminiscent of the early versions of Android TV, where lag and unexpected restarts were common. Android has long since resolved these issues, so we can hope that FireTV in Panasonic's TVs will improve with future updates. Until then, expect some lag and minor problems during regular use. I had hoped that with Z95A, Panasonic would finally have caught up with competitors in the Smart TV segment. However, after a month of using Panasonic Z95A, that is not the impression I am left with.
Operation
For better or worse, Panasonic's remote control has not changed much in recent years. It has a nice weight, fits well in the hand, and has far too many buttons. With the switch to FireTV, one might have hoped for a redesign of the remote, but where there were some unfortunate ambiguous functions before, the change in operating system may have added even more. For example, the play button only works as pause in most streaming apps, but cannot start the video again. Loyal Panasonic customers will likely feel at home with the remote, but if you are used premium remotes from other brands, such as earlier metal variants from Samsung, Philips, or Sony, Panasonic's remote feels outdated.FireTV comes with a new app if you want to control the TV from your smartphone. From here, you can launch apps directly on the TV or use the simple navigation section to click through the interface. There's also a shortcut for keyboard input, which is a welcome feature when entering usernames and passwords in apps that do not offer automatic login via QR code. The app is not quite as polished as those from Sony, Samsung or LG, but it works well.
TV audio
There is not much new in terms of sound compared to last year's MZ2000 (review here), but given that Panasonic is known for delivering some of the best sound quality in its high-end TVs, this is not necessarily a drawback. Z95A features both height and side channels, with the side-facing sound performing particularly well. Elevating sound with ceiling-facing units is always a challenge and as with soundbars and other TVs using this technology, it never quite achieves the sensation of "sound from above". Instead, it sounds more like additional audio projected forward and upward. If you do not plan to add external sound equipment, Z95A will still offer a noticeable upgrade over most standard TVs with hidden speakers. However, while vocals are clear, there is still a lack of bass. Fortunately, there is an option to connect a traditional active subwoofer via the dedicated output on the TV.Calibration
The calibration of Panasonic's flagship models is (fortunately) just as boring as always, and if it were not for the options being available I would not adjust anything. The TV is accurate enough out of the box to deliver close to reference-quality performance. Choose Professional 2 for a dark room, where the gamma curve matches BT.1886, which is roughly equivalent to gamma 2.4, or select Professional 1 for a brighter room, where the gamma is set to 2.2. Both deliver precise colors without the need for further adjustments. But... there are still a plethora of other picture modes to avoid before landing on one of the two accurate modes. It is as chaotic to look through the picture mode menu as it is to use Panasonic's remote. It is a shame that the mess of picture modes could potentially ruin such a phenomenal picture if the user makes the wrong choice – or fails to make a choice. The standard picture mode is just as dreadful on Panasonic's flagship as it is on all other TVs. Z95A is equipped with the second generation MLA OLED panel, like LG G4, and the brightness peaks quite high at 1700 nits with up to 25% screen coverage. The more dynamic picture modes hit even higher, but since you should not waste your time with them we will focus on the calibrated Professional picture mode. WOLED, MLA or not, still lags behind QD-OLED in color space coverage, but nonetheless Z95A is impressively accurate and delivers very high brightness.Other picture mode
Click to expand the view
Normal (SDR) Dynamic (SDR) AI (SDR) Sport (SDR) Professional 2 (SDR) Filmmaker Mode (SDR) Cinema (SDR) True Cinema (SDR) Normal (HDR) Dynamic (HDR) Game (HDR) Measurements
In our "measurements" section we include all measurements and our suggested calibration settings. If you want to learn more about our test methodology click here. Note: Starting last year, we implemented a new method for measurement of average power consumption in SDR and HDR, meaning that earlier measurements are not 1:1 comparable. The new method will be used in all TV reviews going forward.Note: We include calibration settings only for SDR, not HDR. For our calibration we have deactivated the ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the backlight setting according to your environment. You may prefer to have it enabled.Picture quality
With the advent of MLA panels (Micro Lens Array) last year, the brightness of LG Display's WOLED panels took a significant leap forward, and we have already had a glimpse of what the second generation of MLA can achieve, as detailed in our LG G4 review here. Panasonic Z95A delivers the same high performance as LG's G4 and we are nearing 2000 nits, which is noteworthy as 1000 nits was hard to achieve on OLED just a few years ago. We have seen LCD models exceed 2000 nits, but with zone dimming LCD models it is somewhat ironic that it is difficult to utilize this potential because high brightness is typically reserved for small segments of the picture, leading to so-called "blooming" around bright objects like glowing stars in the night sky, sharp streetlights, etc. Here, OLED with its pixel-level luminance control offers far more granular luminance control, and this is where Z95A truly shines. On the other hand, OLED still struggles with power consumption limits as load on the power supply becomes too intense if the same high brightness is needed across the entire panel at once, which is why OLED loses its breath on around a 25% window – as seen in our measurement section. The MLA panel peaks at just over 1700 nits up to 25% coverage, but if you fill the entire screen with white, this number drops to a maximum of 270 nits. This is slightly lower than what Samsung's QD-OLED panels can handle in the latest generation (Samsung S95D QD-OLED review), but it is a reasonable range for OLED in general. It is naturally rare to have a full white screen, but nevertheless peak brightness at full load is relevant when it comes to "overpowering" other light in the room. Here, LCD is still far ahead, but in terms of the question, "Is it good enough to watch TV in a bright room/room with many windows/..." the answer is a clear yes for the latest OLED TV. This year, Samsung introduced a new anti-reflective filter on their QD-OLED TV, which is not available on LG's WOLED panels, so in addition to having slightly higher overall brightness, Samsung has also taken the lead in terms of how visible reflections are on the TV. Z95A delivers the usual strengths of perfect black levels and striking highlights, with the added convenience of quickly switching between picture mode optimized for both dark and bright rooms, all via a button on the remote. This makes it easy to achieve the perfect picture no matter the time of day. As shown in our measurement section, Z95A performs flawlessly right out of the box, meaning you will not need to invest in extra color calibration. Simply switch to one of the two Professional modes and enjoy. While the color gamut of WOLED is not as wide as QD-OLED, particularly in red tones, it still delivers excellent performance. WOLED's additional white subpixel reduces color intensity as brightness increases, but unless you are comparing it side by side with a QD-OLED this likely will not be noticeable. What you will not miss, however, is QD-OLED’s slightly unusual subpixel structure, which can cause colored edges, especially on text or high-contrast objects. In contrast, WOLED looks ultra-sharp, and Z95A is no exception. Over the course of watching 20-30 full-length films on Z95A, it has been an absolute pleasure, regardless of genre or source. The accurate colors and ample brightness have made both SDR and HDR content a joy to watch. Whether streaming 1080p or 4K material, Z95A performs at a reference-class level. After encountering a few odd issues with the Max app and Dolby Vision content via the TV's native apps, I ended up streaming most films through the Apple TV 4K box, which worked without a hitch together with Z95A. Grainy streaming material, especially scenes with challenging smoke and fog, generally exposes issues with handling gradients and color transitions on TVs. However, Z95A performs exemplary this regard. On simple test patterns, you might spot occasional lines but replicating this in real-world content is nearly impossible. The photo above attempts to demonstrate this with a scene from Arrival, where the TVs with weaker gradient handling suffer from "banding" in the fog when the characters first meet the mysterious visitors. Another example I often reference is from Invasion on Apple TV+, season 2 episode 6, where a crucial scene unfolds in a foggy forest. The combination of streaming and the pulsing fog in this scene is demanding and can easily highlight issues for most users, but Z95A handles it smoothly. For this test, I set Gradation Smoothing to its lowest level, but you can adjust this feature to eliminate any banding caused by content. As for motion settings, I have disabled most of Panasonic’s motion system features, including Intelligent Frame Creation (IFC), leaving only a few elements active to ensure smooth playback of movie content. While some may prefer smoother motion for movies or sports, I personally prioritize avoiding digital noise – artefacts – around moving objects over sharper images. Panasonic's IFC adjustments tend to quickly introduce the "soap opera effect", which I find hard to tolerate. However, personal preferences vary and you may want to experiment with the settings. I would not recommend going beyond the 'Minimum' setting on any of the motion controls. In terms of smoothing performance, both LG and Sony still outperform Panasonic, but none of these systems are entirely without issues.No issues with burn-in or temporary image retention were observed during testing, and only faint traces from test patterns appeared during the stress test under calibration. Manufacturers implement burn-in prevention measures differently and it will take time to determine whether Z95A is more or less prone to this. The addition of a heatsink on the back of the panel has not definitively proven its value yet – stress tests from Rtings.com show mixed results – but since Panasonic is not part of their test pool, we lack long-term data. For now, we can simply report that no problems occurred during our one-month test. With Panasonic, you will notice that the brightness gradually dims if the screen is left on for too long. From the initial 1700 nits, the brightness drops to around 700 nits after a few minutes. Even at 700 nits, that is still brighter than the peak brightness of OLEDs from just a few years ago, so it remains impressive. When the content on the screen changes, the brightness quickly returns to its peak, and the dimming happens so gradually that you will not notice it unless you leave the screen idle on a user interface for an extended period. If you turn off all the lights in the room and use a very long camera exposure, you might spot faint vertical lines or slight inhomogeneity in the panel, but in practice, you would never notice this. It has been a few years since we rejected a TV based on panel uniformity – whether for black levels or the consistency of lighter colors. We are still keeping an eye on this issue, but it does not appear to be a concern that new buyers should worry about.With two HDMI 2.1 ports – one taken by m Sonos Arc – there is space for only one HDMI 2.1-based game console. This port supports both ALLM and VRR, with the latter going up to 120 Hz (or 144Hz with a PC), allowing you to move beyond 30 or 60fps gaming. As usual, the "True Game" picture mode delivers excellent color accuracy and the lowest possible input lag. We measured around 14 ms, similar to previous years, but this was without VRR enabled. With VRR, you may still notice some issues in dark areas, something we have highlighted before, as it happens on all OLED (and LCD) models due to it being a panel issue.
If you want to fine-tune the picture beyond the True Game mode, Panasonic's gaming menu lets you adjust HDR tone mapping and tweak shadow detail handling. While this changes the picture from its intended look, it can be helpful in brightly lit rooms when entering dark areas in games, like a cave, where visibility is often an issue. You can easily bring up the menu, adjust dark details for better visibility, and switch back afterward without needing to mess with the game's gamma settings or the console's handling of shadow details.Conclusion
The biggest news in Panasonic Z95A is its switch to FireTV as the smart platform, a significant upgrade from Panasonic's own MyHomeScreen. FireTV feels much more modern and is better equipped to compete with platforms like Tizen, Android and webOS. However, in its current form FireTV still feels a bit rough – comparable to Android from 6-7 years ago – with too many bugs and stability issues. It is expected to improve over time, and we are hopeful that future updates will make it more reliable.Ad:In terms of picture quality, the second generation MLA OLED panel delivers impressive peak brightness and Panasonic's engineers have ensured that several of the built-in picture modes offer near-perfect calibration. It does not take much tweaking to achieve reference-quality visuals from this TV. Z95A also features Panasonic’s flagship Dolby Atmos speaker system. If you are not planning to add an external soundbar or sound system, Z95A is one of the best choices in terms of built-in sound. I would still recommend adding a subwoofer – even a small one – to enhance the bass but otherwise the TV's audio system is capable of delivering solid sound compared to competitors. As a package, Z95A still needs some finishing touches, particularly with FireTV not yet meeting expectations. Once that is resolved, it will stand out as a more complete package, especially when compared to something like LG G4, which has a simpler design but lacks the same level of sound quality.Price and retailers:
UK retailerUK retailerDE retailerFireTV instead of MyHomeScreen
Color accuracy & video processor
Good speaker system
HDR and high peak brightnessFireTV is buggy
Motion system does not match Sony & LG
Only two HDMI 2.1
No 77" version
